Guatemala experienced a difficult year in 2010. Serious drought continued to affect the country early in the year until tropical storms contributed to the heaviest rainy season in 60 years. Landslides and floods destroyed roads, bridges, and buildings; killed hundreds of people; and displaced thousands more. Guatemala was also shaken in May by the eruption of the Pacaya volcano south of Guatemala City, which dumped heavy ash on the capital.

Heavy rains from Tropical Storm Agatha caused an enormous sinkhole to open up in Guatemala City, …

Casa Presidencial—Reuters/Landov

In June the resignation of Carlos Castresana, the Spanish judge heading the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), created a political uproar. The CICIG had been established in 2007 by the UN and Guatemala to investigate organized crime’s involvement in government. Its reports had led to the arrest of former president Alfonso Portillo on charges of embezzlement while in office. By April 2010 the CICIG had dismantled the “criminal structure” inside the Guatemalan national police by having brought about the dismissal of nearly 2,000 police officers and the arrest or imprisonment of 130 government officials and others. Castresana resigned after Pres. Álvaro Colom appointed Conrado Reyes as attorney general. Reyes, whom the CICIG had alleged was linked to illegal adoption rings and drug traffickers, was later dismissed. Former Costa Rican attorney general Francisco Dall’Anese became the CICIG’s new head.

Colom’s wife, Sandra Torres de Colom, who had been pivotal in the government’s efforts to reduce poverty and injustice, appeared to be a likely candidate to succeed her husband as president at his term’s end in 2012. Violence and crime continued to plague the country, including hundreds of murders monthly, gang activity, and narcotrafficking. Increased deportation of Guatemalans from the U.S. only added to the problems. The U.S. government also announced in July that it would file a complaint against Guatemala for labour law violations under the Central America–Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement. Then, in October, the U.S. was forced to apologize when news broke that in 1946–48 an American medical team had infected nearly 700 Guatemalan prison inmates, mental patients, and soldiers with venereal diseases to test the effectiveness of penicillin. Guatemalans demanded U.S. compensation for the victims or their descendants. Guatemala also pushed the U.S. for immigration reform after Arizona enacted a tough anti-immigration law.

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